The KNCB published on Wednesday the details of the proposals from its working party developing a Club Charter scheme, which will be discussed at Thursday evening’s general meeting of the Bond.

,p>Subtitled ‘a development path for every club’, the scheme entails a three-level charter system, with clubs able to gain certification at ‘Elite’, ‘Top’ and ‘Plus’ levels. Points would be awarded on a wide range of criteria, with each level involving a combination of required and bonus points in order to achieve the necessary total.

The criteria cover such areas as: club organisation, planning and implementation; accommodation and facilities; expansion; youth policy; and relations with the wider social environment.

The working party’s document emphasises the importance of growth for the future of Dutch cricket, and presents the Charter scheme as a way of encouraging clubs to raise their sights and of rewarding them for their efforts. It also points out that the scheme is essentially voluntary, with no sanctions proposed for non-participation and clubs free to use the flexibility of the bonus points component to forge their own development paths.

‘Each club will be able to set its own priorities,’ the proposals state, ‘and determine its own pace of development; so the club will remain in complete control. The Club Charter is a means of stimulating joint investment [by the clubs and the KNCB] in the future of Dutch cricket.’One fundamental requirement of the scheme would be that to receive a Charter award a club would need to have a Development Plan. The KNCB would offer support in the preparation of these plans, but it would be for the club itself to chart its way forward.

Many of the more detailed requirements, such as availability of grounds and their basic facilities, essentially reflect the existing situation, but it is in such areas as youth development that the scheme’s preoccupation with growth is most apparent. While only twenty clubs have a youth section at present, not all of whom are able to field even one junior team, having at least one such side would be required for a club to reach the first, ‘Plus’ level.

Similarly, a club aspiring to achieve the ‘Top’ or ‘Elite’ levels would need to have a women’s or girls’ team, a criterion met by only ten clubs at the moment.

Coaching is another aspect of the sport addressed by the scheme, with clubs required to have at least one member with a Level 1 coaching qualification at ‘Plus’ level, two with a Level 1 and one with a Level 2 for the ‘Top’ level, and four Level 1s, two Levels 2s and a Level 3 for the ‘Elite’ grade. The presence of more than these minimum numbers among a club’s membership would earn it bonus points at each level.

‘We have worked with representatives of the clubs and the KNCB administration,’ working party chairman Guido Dukker said on Wednesday, ‘ to achieve a mutual understanding what the Dutch cricket clubs need, what the office could provide, and what a charter would mean to all of us.

‘We are all very happy with the result. This should be the beginning of a close working relationship to build the future of Dutch cricket.’

* The author served as a consultant to the working party on the Club Charter.